Education within Your Reach!

AABB audioconferences enable thousands of professionals in transfusion medicine and cellular and related biological therapies to obtain timely information from recognized experts in the field. Learn latest in the industry, at the lowest price, in the most convenient location - your facility! Take advantage of AABB’s superior schedule of audioconference programs and register as an audioconference host site.

New cellular therapy-focused audioconferences were added to the 2008 schedule. All cellular therapy-focused audioconferences are denoted by an * following the title.

New for 2008: Leadership Management Audioconference Series for Individuals

Geared toward individuals, the Leadership Management Series highlights topics including leadership, strategic planning, budgeting and finance, and proper resource management. Continuing education credit will be granted to only those individuals registered for the program. Look for these four programs, labeled as “Leadership Management Audioconference Series for Individuals” and located throughout the full calendar listing. Click here to view the series.

Individuals who were unable to participate in a past 2008 AABB audioconference still have an opportunity to listen to a desired program and earn CE credit. Visit the links in the 2008 Audioconference Schedule below to purchase copies of the 2008 presentations.
 

2008 Audioconference Schedule
Setting Up an Audioconference is Quick and Easy
Continuing Education Credit

Registration for AABB Audioconferences for Facilities

Registration for Leadership Management Audioconferences for Individuals

Input Sought for 2009 Audioconference Series

2008 Audioconference Moderator Packet
2008 Audioconference Speaker Packet
2008 Audioconference Director Packet

2007 Audioconference Schedule
Contact the Education Department

2008 Audioconference Schedule
All cellular therapy-focused audioconferences are denoted by an *.

Leadership Management Audioconferences for Individuals are labeled throughout the schedule.

2008 Leadership Management Audioconference Series for Individuals

02/12 - Leadership Management Audioconference Series for Individuals:  Fundamentals and Principles of Leadership
06/10 - Leadership Management Audioconference Series for Individuals:  Keys to Successful Strategic Planning
08/19 - Leadership Management Audioconference Series for Individuals: Financial Management: Budgeting, Financing, and Interpreting Financial Documents
11/18 - Leadership Management Audioconference Series for Individuals: Effective Tools for Resource Management
 

Project Management: Leading and Guiding Change in the Health Care Setting

January 9, 2008

2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET); 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (GMT)

Program # 084564

Director/Moderator: Kristina Williams, MT(ASCP)SBB, CQIA, CQA(ASQ), Manager, ARC IRL Operational Support, American Red Cross

Faculty: Ann Church, PMP, MS-PM, CQA(ASQ), MT(ASCP)SBB, Director of Change Integration, American Red Cross

Intended Audience: Physicians, Technologists, Nurses, Managers/Supervisors, Quality Assurance Staff

Objectives:

·          Define basic project management terms and concepts.

·          Outline elements of an effective project management operating procedure.

·          Recognize potential pitfalls of working projects versus managing projects.

·          Identify value-added opportunities to apply basic project management tools and expectations.

Event Description: If your organization uses cross-functional teams to design and/or implement changes, this session is for you. Project management can be an important stop on your journey toward the goal of successful change implementation. Project management tools, concepts, and methods can be added to your current quality tool box for selected application, or it can be an embedded, foundational approach. The speaker for this session has 24 years of health care experience including 20 years within transfusion medicine with the most recent six years focusing on project management.

Event Level: Basic to Intermediate

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Component Preparations for Pediatric Patients

January 16, 2008

2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET); 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (GMT)

Program # 084565

Director/Moderator: Cynthia White, MHA, SBB(ASCP), MT(AMT), Implementation Consultant, Mediware Information Systems

Faculty: Jacque Tagliere, MT(ASCP)SBB, Manager, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Steven Sloan, MD, PhD, Medical Director, Children’s Hospital Boston

Intended Audience: Physicians, Technologists, Nurses, Managers/ Supervisors

Objectives:

·          Develop processes for component aliquoting and preparation in an aseptic environment and managing associated data on processes inherent in small-volume transfusions.

·          Comprehend advances in medical care that permit survival of severely low birthweight infants and associated risks.

·          Evaluate indications for transfusion of blood components and the appropriate choice of components and attributes.

Event Description: The neonatal patient has a unique physiology and undergoes many physiologic changes in the early days and weeks of life. This session will include a discussion of advances, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), that allow underweight and critically ill infants to survive. This interactive seminar will review emerging technologies, products and processes essential in the selection and preparation of appropriate components for neonatal patients. The seminar will address the importance of developing protocols for small-volume preparations.

Event Level: Intermediate to Advanced

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Vendor Qualifications: Unique Issues for the Cell Therapy Laboratory*

January 30, 2008

2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET); 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (GMT)

Program # 084566

Director/Moderator: Janice Davis-Sproul, MAS, MT(ASCP)SBB, Manager, Cell Therapy Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Faculty: Sheryl A. Tran, Regulatory Coordinator, Mayo Clinic; Angela Ondo, MT(ASCP), Quality Assurance Officer, Cell Therapy Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Hospital
 

Intended Audience: Technologists, Managers/Supervisors, Quality Assurance Staff

Objectives:

·          Review the requirements for a vendor qualification program.

·          Identify vendors for a cell therapy laboratory.

·          Discuss risk- and facility-based approaches to vendor qualification.

Event Description: Vendor qualification is an essential component of a quality program. However, approaches and details vary among cell therapy laboratories. What is sufficient to qualify your donor relevant communicable disease testing laboratory? How much information do you need about the hospital facilities engineer who repairs your freezer or the environmental staff who clean the laboratory? What should you know about an offsite cell therapy product collection facility? These topics will be addressed as the speakers review the requirements and the challenges, and offer practical solutions to vendor qualifications for a cell therapy laboratory.

Event Level: Basic to Intermediate

*Cellular therapy-focused audioconference.

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Errors and Non-Conformances: How to Document and Re-train

February 6, 2008

2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET); 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (GMT)

Program # 084567

Director/Moderator: Lynn A. Emmert, MEd, MT(ASCP)SI, CLS(NCA), Technical Education Supervisor, Puget Sound Blood Center

Faculty: Tammy Winkler, QA Internal Operations Manager, LifeSouth Community Blood Center, Inc.; Elizabeth Oen, AAS, BA, Quality Assurance Manager, Lane Memorial Blood Bank; Lynn A. Emmert, MEd, MT(ASCP)SI, CLS(NCA), Technical Education Supervisor, Puget Sound Blood Centers

Intended Audience: Technologists, Managers/Supervisors, CEOs/CFOs, Quality Assurance Staff

Objectives:

·          Explain approaches that can be used when dealing with an employee who makes repetitive errors that affect product safety, purity or potency.

·          Describe the documentation required to record the completion of remedial training.

Event Description: Dealing with an employee who has committed repeated errors on a key procedure can be a stressful and confusing situation. The presenters in this program will discuss the training policies and methods they use in their facilities to deal with the critical issue of employee non-conformance to standard operating procedures. The program will review the training techniques and data collection methods used and the documentation procedures they developed for such occurrences.

Event Level: Basic to Intermediate

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Leadership Management Audioconference Series for Individuals: Fundamentals and Principles of Leadership

February 12, 2008

2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET); 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (GMT)

Program # 0801

Faculty: J. Daniel Connor, MM, President and CEO, Blood Systems, Inc.

Objectives:

·          Gain a greater appreciation and understanding of the concepts of leadership including basic principals, qualifications, traits, roles and responsibilities.

·          Describe different leadership styles, including examples of the most commonly used styles.

·          Compare and distinguish the roles and responsibilities of leadership versus management.

Event Description: This program introduces the fundamentals of leadership and the importance of what leadership means to an organization, its people and its performance. In this session, there will be presentations on the key concepts and principles of how leadership is practiced. The session will also describe leadership styles and the importance and effectiveness of each style.

Mechanisms and Laboratory Investigation of Drug-Induced Immune Hemolytic Anemia

February 27, 2008

2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET); 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (GMT)

Program # 084568

Director/Moderator: Lorne Holland, MD, Associate Director of Transfusion Medicine, University of Colorado

Faculty: George Garratty, PhD, FRCPath, Scientific Director, American Red Cross; Patricia Arndt, MS, MT(ASCP)SBB, Senior Research Associate, American Red Cross Blood Services

Intended Audience: Physicians, Technologists, Managers/Supervisors

Objectives:

·          Describe the different mechanisms of drug-induced hemolysis.

·          Identify drugs commonly associated with immune hemolysis.

·          List laboratory tests useful for making the diagnosis of drug-induced hemolytic anemia.

·          Assess the serologic findings associated with drug-induced hemolytic anemia.

Event Description: Drug-induced hemolytic anemia (DIHA) should be considered whenever any hemolytic anemia is suspected. A vast number of common drugs can cause a positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT) and, in some patients, this will be associated with significant hemolysis. This session will review correlation of patient history and laboratory data that are essential for the diagnosis of DIHA.

Event Level: Intermediate

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Hematopoietic Cell Donation: Ensuring Safety for the Donor, Product and Recipient*CT

March 5, 2008

2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET); 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (GMT)

Program # 084569

Director/Moderator: Michael Linenberger, MD, Medical Director, Apheresis and Cellular Therapy, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

Faculty: Michael Linenberger, MD, Medical Director, Apheresis and Cellular Therapy, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance; Joseph Schwartz, MD, Director, Hemotherapy and Cellular Therapy Division of Transfusion Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center; Paul V. O’Donnell, MD, PhD, FACP, Medical Director, Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Service, University of Washington Medical Center, Associate Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Washington

Intended Audience: Physicians, Technologists, Nurses, Managers/ Supervisors, Quality Assurance Staff

Objectives:

·          Identify the key elements of eligibility and medical suitability determination for allogeneic donors undergoing collection of HPC-A and HPC-M.

·          Describe the risk factors and adverse events associated with mobilization and collection of HPC-A and HPC-M harvest.

·          Discuss the justification process for ineligible donors who are deemed suitable for collection.

·          Analyze the management and reporting of procedure-related adverse events and the documentation, labeling and reporting of product deviations.

Event Description: The process of hematopoietic stem cell donation begins with the assessment of donor eligibility and suitability, proceeds through the safe and efficient collection of the cells, and ends with the proper labeling, handling and distribution of the final product. These steps are required to ensure the well being of the donor, recipient and health care professionals who handle the hematopoietic progenitor cells collected by apheresis (HPC-A) or marrow harvest (HPC-M). In this audioconference, case studies and hypothetical situations will be utilized to highlight and discuss the medical challenges, regulatory implications and management strategies of HPC-A and HPC-M donors with transmissible communicable disease risk factors and/or medical comorbidities. The requirements for documentation and justification of donors with potential disqualifying clinical or laboratory features will be reviewed as well as the proper steps for documentation, labeling and, when necessary, investigation of products that deviate from accepted standards.

Event Level: Intermediate to Advanced

*Cellular therapy-focused audioconference.

Content for this program was developed in cooperation with the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA).

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Serological to Molecular Testing: Points to Consider for Successful Conversion

March 19, 2008

2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET); 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm (GMT)

Program # 084570

Director/Moderator: Jennifer Rhamy, MBA, MA, MT(ASCP)SBB, HP, Vice President, Laboratory Services, Indiana Blood Center

Faculty: Marion E. Reid, PhD, FIBMS, Director, Immunohematology and Immunochemistry Laboratories, New York Blood Center; Joann Moulds, PhD, MT(ASCP)SBB, Director, Clinical Immunogenetics, LifeShare Blood Centers